The Daughters of the American Revolution commemorated the birth of the United States in a special ceremony at the Veterans Historical Plaza on Monday morning.
The ceremony was to commemorate the men and women who fought or gave aid during the American Revolution and also put a plaque in the plaza for residents to remember the veterans who fought.
The ceremony featured patriotic music, four men dressed as soldiers and flags blowing in the wind.
The DAR and the California State Society have 9,600 members, 116 chapters and 15 districts. They volunteer about 450,000 hours and donate $500,000 to veterans in different service projects, according to Christina Ramos, California state regent for the organization.
“This is an America 250 patriot marker, and it celebrates all of the patriots’ legacy that they left us. So, the Daughters of the American Revolution try to mark as many places as they can as historical monuments as a testament to our patriots and our veterans,” Ramos said.
Ramos added that she believes events like this are important for the public to know what the military and veterans have done for the country.
During the ceremony, certificates were given to various people for their efforts and work within the organization, according to Jenny Fitzwater, District VIII director of the DAR.
“For instance, for Shaylee Lewis who sang the national anthem, that was a certificate of award to recognize that she came down to the marker dedication and sang the national anthem,” Fitzwater said. “But there were other certificates, like for the five members I called up front. And those certificates were to recognize their efforts to help get this marker.”
The event comes as the birth of the nation is approaching 250 years on Fourth of July 2026.
“We are coming up on the 250th birthday of the United States of America, which is a big deal. This is DAR’s way of bringing to the communities’ attention what our patriots did, their sacrifices back in 1775, ’76 all the way through 1783,” said Susan Broderick, the organization’s vice president general, Class of 2026.
